Ben Alder

Infobox Mountain
Name = Ben Alder
Photo = Ben_alder.jpg
Caption = Ben Alder seen from near Culra bothy to the east
Elevation = 1148 m (3765 ft)
Location = Highlands, Scotland
Prominence = 783 m Ranked 40th in British Isles
Parent peak = Ben Nevis
Grid_ref_UK = NN496718
Listing = Munro, Marilyn
Translation = Hill of rock and water
Language = Scottish Gaelic
Pronunciation = peɲˈɛlˠ̪əɾʲ

Ben Alder (Gaelic: Beinn Eallair) is the highest mountain in the remote area of the Scottish Highlands between Loch Ericht and Glen Spean. The vast summit plateau is home of one of Britain's highest bodies of standing water, Lochan a' Garbh Coire. It is the 25^th highest Munro, and due to its remote location, one of the less frequently visited. Situated 19 km from Dalwhinnie and 15 km from Corrour railway station, it is commonly climbed in a two day expedition, usually taking in its lower neighbour, Beinn Bheoil. There are two bothies near to the mountain: Culra Lodge to the north and Ben Alder Cottage to the south, both potentially providing shelter for walkers in the area. Ben Alder Cottage is reputed to be haunted by the ghost of a ghillie who hanged himself from the rafters.

If a mountain bicycle is used on, or permission is obtained to drive on the track along the north west shore of Loch Ericht, Ben Alder is one of six Munros that a fit climber may be able to summit on a single late spring or early summer day.

The "Man with no Name"

A man's body was found near the top of Ben Alder in June 1996, seated at the edge of a cliff face, overlooking a lochan, his heart pierced by an old-fashioned lead ball bullet. All the labels had been cut from his clothing. Forms of identification such as credit cards were missing. He had a replica Remington .44, unsuitable slip-on shoes, an unnecessary three 1.5-litre bottles of water in his rucksack and £21 in cash.

Although the police later ascertained that his clothing came mostly from French supermarkets, it was not until November 1997, following a cranio-facial reconstruction of the dead man's face, that a friend of the family wondered if the man might be Emmanuel Caillet, from south Paris, France. Last seen by his parents on August 14, 1995, it was established that Emmanuel had crossed the Channel the next day. He then sold his car for £350, less than its value. Two days later he stayed one night in the Stakis-Ingram Hotel, Glasgow, paying with his Visa card. His identity was duly confirmed.

There are alternative theories as to how he might have died, since there is evidence that he had been seen with another man at Corrour railway station, but forensic evidence points to suicide.

Kidnapped

Ben Alder is one of the locations featured in the novel "Kidnapped" by Robert Louis Stevenson. [cite book |author=Robert Louis Stevenson |title=Kidnapped |publisher=Puffin Books |location=Harmondsworth |year=1983, first published 1886 |isbn=0-140-35012-8] The main characters David Balfour and Alan Breck Stewart are hosted by the Scottish clan chief Cluny Macpherson, fugitive after the Second Jacobite Rising, in one of his hiding places at Ben Alder.

References

* [http://www.johnmuiraward.org/news/selfguided/tlawfield.html Mentions ghost of Ben Alder Cottage]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4328472-103425,00.html Death of Knight Errant]

ee also

*Geology of Scotland